Hacker News with Generative AI: Solar Power

Offgrid Electric Car (joeyh.name)
Eight months ago I came up my rocky driveway in an electric car, with the back full of solar panel mounting rails. I didn't know how I'd manage to keep it charged. I got the car earlier than planned, with my offgrid solar upgrade only beginning. There's no nearby EV charger, and winter was coming, less solar power every day. Still, it was the right time to take a leap to offgid EV life.

Electric Vehicles, Solar Power, Off-Grid Living

27 points by akkartik 4 days ago | 9 comments

Saudi businesses turn to solar power as kingdom cuts energy subsidies (ft.com)

Saudi Arabia, Energy, Solar Power, Business, Finance

5 points by rustoo 5 days ago | 1 comments

Pakistan's 22 GW Solar Shock: How a Fragile State Went Full Clean Energy (cleantechnica.com)
Pakistan isn’t the first country you’d expect to crash the global solar party. But by the end of 2024, it quietly rocketed into the top tier of solar adopters, importing a jaw-dropping 22 gigawatts worth of solar panels in a single year.

Pakistan, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Clean Energy, International Development

71 points by blackhawkC17 18 days ago | 35 comments

Aptera's First Solar Road Trip. 300 Miles, One Charge (aptera.us)
Aptera just completed its first-ever solar-supported road trip—driving over 300 miles on a single charge and proving that a solar EV isn’t just a concept for the future, but a real-world solution ready for the present.

Electric Vehicles, Solar Power, Sustainability

49 points by geox 26 days ago | 58 comments

The Solar Engineer Transforming Lebanon's Power Grid (ieee.org)
In Mira Daher’s home country of Lebanon, the national grid provides power for only a few hours a day.

Energy, Lebanon, Engineering, Solar Power

5 points by rbanffy 26 days ago | 0 comments

Ivanpah Solar Thermal Units Shutting Down, as Tech Shifts (enr.com)
Power plant operator and co-owner NRG Energy Inc. is preparing to close down part of its Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in San Bernardino County, Calif., a little more than 11 years after it began operating.

Solar Power, Energy, Technology, California

17 points by LMSolar 28 days ago | 4 comments

China's Energy Transition at Odds with Solar Glut, Cheap Power (bloomberg.com)
China’s Energy Transition at Odds With Solar Glut, Cheap Power

China, Energy, Solar Power, Economics

27 points by toomuchtodo 33 days ago | 32 comments

Solar Generation Surge Sends European Power Prices Below Zero (bloomberg.com)
A patch of clear, sunny weather boosted solar generation across parts of Europe and sent power prices into negative territory for large periods around midday.

Energy, Europe, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Climate Change

38 points by toomuchtodo 38 days ago | 118 comments

How Europe is funding its solar boom (dw.com)
The EU has doubled its solar capacity in the last three years. How have subsidies made this possible, what support is still available, and what still needs to happen?

Renewable Energy, Europe, Solar Power, Government Policy, Subsidies

5 points by rntn 64 days ago | 0 comments

Balcony solar is taking off (theguardian.com)
“If 1.5 million Germans have bought solar balcony kits there must be something in it,” he says.

Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Germany

219 points by mcp_ 78 days ago | 228 comments

Nevada Ivanpah Solar Plant Accidentally Incinerates Up to 6k Birds a Year (2016) (sciencealert.com)
A rare and unusual type of solar power plant that concentrates sunlight in California is accidentally killing up to 6,000 birds every year, with staff reporting that the birds keep flying into its concentrated beams of sunlight, and spontaneously bursting into flames.

Solar Power, Environmental Impact, Accidents, Wildlife, Technology

36 points by walterbell 82 days ago | 57 comments

Giant Solar Farm in Mojave Desert Could Close Just a Decade After Opening (ibtimes.com)
A California utility wants to end its agreement to buy power from a giant solar farm in the Mojave Desert because it found cheaper alternative clean energy sources, a move that will sound the death knell to what was once the world's largest solar plant, according to reports.

Renewable Energy, Solar Power, California, Environmental Issues, Energy

4 points by Tempest1981 84 days ago | 2 comments

China installed a record capacity of solar and wind in 2024 – in numbers (electrek.co)
China saw monumental solar and wind growth in 2024, according to data released today by its National Energy Administration (NEA).

China, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Wind Power, Energy

30 points by zfg 94 days ago | 10 comments

China plans to build 'Three Gorges dam in space' to harness solar power (scmp.com)
A senior Chinese scientist has revealed an ambitious plan to use super heavy rockets to build solar power stations in space, calling it “another Three Gorges Dam project above the Earth”.

Space Exploration, Solar Power, China, Energy, Engineering

6 points by NoRagrets 106 days ago | 0 comments

Germans turn to balcony solar panels to save money (france24.com)
Berlin (AFP) – As snowflakes gently settled on his balcony solar panels on a cold winter's day, Berliner Jens Sax checked his smartphone to see how much electricity they were generating.

Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Germany, Energy Costs, Climate Change

66 points by vinni2 108 days ago | 78 comments

How balcony solar is taking off (theguardian.com)
“If 1.5 million Germans have bought solar balcony kits there must be something in it,” he says.

Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Germany

6 points by bilsbie 128 days ago | 0 comments

Get a solar panel for your balcony now (stapelberg.ch)
A year ago, I got a solar panel for my balcony — an easy way to vote with your wallet to convert more of the world’s energy usage to solar power. That was a great decision and I would recommend everyone get a solar panel (or two)!

Solar Power, Renewable Energy, Sustainability

4 points by paulcarroty 134 days ago | 0 comments

Australia Struggling with Oversupply of Solar Power (abc.net.au)
Amid the growing warmth and increasingly volatile weather of an approaching summer, Australia passed a remarkable milestone this week.

Australia, Solar Power, Energy, Climate Change

18 points by m463 143 days ago | 28 comments

Cheap solar panels are changing the world (theatlantic.com)
“This is unstoppable.”

Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Climate Change, Technology, Economics

117 points by dotcoma 178 days ago | 193 comments

China Adds 160 Gigawatts in First 3 Quarters of 2024 (cleantechnica.com)
It’s truly impossible to comprehend the scale of solar power deployment in China these days. When I saw how much solar power China had installed in the first 9 months of the year, I thought I must be reading something wrong. I checked a few times. But, indeed, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) reports that a shocking 160 gigawatts (GW) of new solar power capacity were added in the first three quarters of the year. 160 GW.

Renewable Energy, China, Solar Power

7 points by tosh 180 days ago | 0 comments

China Adds 160 Gigawatts in First 3 Quarters of 2024 – CleanTechnica (cleantechnica.com)
It’s truly impossible to comprehend the scale of solar power deployment in China these days. When I saw how much solar power China had installed in the first 9 months of the year, I thought I must be reading something wrong. I checked a few times. But, indeed, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) reports that a shocking 160 gigawatts (GW) of new solar power capacity were added in the first three quarters of the year. 160 GW.

Solar Power, Renewable Energy, China, Clean Energy

8 points by bilsbie 180 days ago | 3 comments

All the electricity you'll need for 40 years (innerpathing.com)
We (well, my partner Jesse) bought a pallet of solar panels. Guaranteed to still have 90% of their capacity in 40 years1, they’ll cover all our household energy needs—powering our kitchen, heating our water, charging our electric car2—for the rest of our lives.

Solar Power, Sustainability, Renewable Energy

76 points by mwfogleman 182 days ago | 126 comments

Cheap Solar Panels Are Changing the World (theatlantic.com)
“This is unstoppable.”

Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Climate Change, Technology

9 points by fortran77 184 days ago | 1 comments

My solar-powered and self-hosted website (dri.es)
I'm excited to share an experiment I've been working on: a solar-powered, self-hosted website running on a Raspberry Pi. The website at https://solar.dri.es is powered entirely by a solar panel and battery on our roof deck in Boston.

Green Technology, Web Development, Raspberry Pi, Solar Power

193 points by lightlyused 191 days ago | 61 comments

Germany outfitted half a million balconies with solar panels (grist.org)
Matthias Weyland loves having people ask about his balcony. A pair of solar panels hang from the railing, casting a sheen of dark blue against the red brick of his apartment building. They’re connected to a microinverter plugged into a wall outlet and feed electricity directly into his home. On a sunny day, he’ll produce enough power to supply up to half of his family’s daily needs.

Solar Power, Germany, Renewable Energy, Sustainability, Housing

40 points by andsoitis 204 days ago | 10 comments

Enel is deploying 6k sheep to 8 Texas solar farms (electrek.co)

Renewable Energy, Texas, Agriculture, Solar Power

5 points by ohjeez 240 days ago | 1 comments

Australia to build the largest solar power plant (news.az)

Australia, Solar Power, Renewable Energy, Energy

26 points by doener 247 days ago | 19 comments

Why you should stop using your solar-powered power bank (zdnet.com)

Solar Power, Power Banks, Technology

8 points by dxs 250 days ago | 0 comments

Ask HN: What are some good longform newsletters about solar power? (ycombinator.com)